Hitachi Rail's use of 5G digital signalling capabilities for urban rail, will reduce lifecycle costs, enhance actionable insights from data analytics, and future proof train networks.

Replacing legacy radio technologies with 5G for critical train to ground communications is being launched on New York's Crosstown Line & Hong Kong's International Airport's Automatic People Mover.

SelTrac™ CBTC is an advanced digital signalling solution, which uses train to ground telecommunications to support traffic management on a line. A technology deployed across new metros, light rail systems and is increasingly used for resignalling on existing networks. CBTC allows for higher capacities, safety and overall reliability when compared to conventional signalling systems.

While CBTC technology is helping to improve performance on rail services around the world, it currently relies on the installation of legacy communication technology (radio, Wi-Fi) to enable train to ground communications. Hitachi Rail's solution with innovative 5G, removes the limitations of prior technologies and instead leverages public or private networks. The 5G solution reduces the trackside infrastructure significantly as the number of 5G Radio Access Points needed are decreased relative to the existing WiFi solution.